found book by scott's brother..and it is wonderful, hard to believe this is his first book! all illustrations and writing is done by him, even wrote music to the song in the back. i recommend this book to anyone with children, or those young at heart..simple story that children will understand..and adults will enjoy reading over and over! cant wait for his second book!

A gentle, tuneful tale(Isaac has his own "ice cream tune" song lyrics and music printed in the back of the book)of a little ice cream truck who longs to be really important. Lots of happy, colorful pictures. A nice addition to any child's library.

I read this to my 2 year old grandson, he is thrilled at the pictures. Scott's drawings are wonderful.

Rabbi Neuman tells his story starting through the eyes of a young boy and ending through the eyes of an elder Rabbi. The Story is told in a calm and matter of fact manner, leaving the adjectives describing the German brutality to the mind of the reader. Thus, the reader can get a much broader picture of the times without getting hung up with anger at specific transgressions. Most everyone would enjoy this book, but especially anyone who is old enough to remember the time when all this was happening.

Rabbi Nueman tells his story starting through the eyes of a young boy and ending through the eyes of an elder Rabbi. The Story is told in a calm and matter of fact manner, leaving the adjectives describing the German brutality to the mind of the reader. Thus, the reader can get a much broader picture of the times without getting hung up with anger at specific transgressions. Most everyone would enjoy this book, but especially anyone who is old enough to remember the time when all this was happening.

In the Narrow Bridge: Beyond the Holocaust, Isaac Neuman set himself the most of difficult of tasks to write the "silent song of my vanished people.

He succeeds so well in invoking the presence of those who are absent that this reader feels as if he had sat at the study table of Reb Mendel as he taught a page of Talmud and told ancient stories that echo again and again the most contemporary of wisdom. The memoir is passionate and deep, religious in its intensity, and yet so very compassionate in its understanding.

Isaac Neuman makes the characters of his past come alive. We gain an insight into the world that ways and is no longer. We learn the streets of his beloved cities and its courtyards, more importantly we are privileged to enter the inner lives of its inhabitants. Unlike most Holocaust memoirs, which are most intense in their portrayal of the evil the survivors experienced, Neuman is most passionate about the past that has vanished and most successful at calling it forth.

Religious Jews will hear the echoes of Jewish legends in the last moments of minyan of martyrs who accepted their decree with dignity and had more faith in the divine that a God present in the Holocaust could ever possibly merit. Secular readers will read of Passover in the camps and glimpse the power of tradition to speak forth even in the most atrocious of circumstances. They will experience the consolation of the invocation of a miraculous, redemptive past in a world without miracles, without hope.

This lyrical work will touch the soul. One laughs, one cries, one mourns and indeed one even celebrates. Restrained prose glisten with insight. The work is deep, passionate, charming -- and ever so welcome.

Michael Berenbaum

Isaac Asimov, science fiction grandmaster and one of the absolute best writers in the field ever to wield a pen, wrote so much - and so much of high quality, at that - that it is difficult for a newcomer to his works to even know where to begin. This daunted me so much that, for a while, I dared not venture into Asimov's canon at all - doubtless, many others have done so as well. Now that I have finally started reading him, I regret that I didn't do it long ago. I urge - urge - you not to make the same mistake. Though Asimov wrote literally hundreds of short stories, this short and concise collection features some of his very best. Included in this collection are absolute masterpieces such as The Last Question (one of the Top 3 science fiction short stories of all-time, in my not-so-humble opinion); Profession (an excellent and very underrated story); The Dying Night (an excellent SF mystery that has been, alas, outdated by subsequent science, but is still enjoyable to the full); The Ugly Little Boy (a rare emotional moment for Asimov, and a great story at that - he called this his third favorite that he ever wrote); and Spell My Name With An "S" (a unique and clever story sprung from the lifelong trouble Asimov had with people adding an extra "S" to his surname.) This collection also includes several lighter pieces, which serve to fill space and lighten the mood. Very, very, very highly recommended to any fan of science fiction writing, an absolute classic and masterpiece of the genre.

Sci-fi grandmaster Isaac Asimov is at the top of his game in this collection of nine short stories. The first is "Profession", which speculates on the nature of education in a future where the Earth is the technological center of a civilization of hundreds of populated planets. The story revolves around young George Platen, and the very special profession for which he has been selected. Asimov goes beyond describing the technology for imparting information and makes points about the everyman's preference for physical over social science, the nature of the creative mind, and how society finds
ways to placate the uncreative, including an event at the future Olympics. More menacing is the "Feeling of Power" in which an unassuming computer programmer discovers the lost art of arithmetic in a future society where only computers know how to do mathematics. Asimov shows how this discovery moves up the bureaucratic chain until it reaches the ears of those who know
how to make use of it, but also makes a statement about scientific responsibility. "The Gentle Vultures" shows a non-competitive race that goes from planet to planet helping the survivors of nuclear catastrophe - until they encounter their first Cold War. And two of the very best tales deal with the burgeoning concept of artificial intelligence. "All the
Troubles of the World" shows a society that relies too heavily on its guiding computer, while "The Last Question" is a totally unique story dealing with a theosophical question and featuring a conclusion that is perhaps the greatest in all science fiction.

Although most of the stories were written in the 1950's, there's very little that's been dated by subsequent scientific discoveries, largely because this collection isn't about hard science so much as the relationships between far-reaching technologies and human society. The protagonists aren't
swashbuckling hero types, and they usually aren't even dedicated scientists single-mindedly pursuing knowledge; they're more likely to be "little guys", ordinary working people with jobs to do, who when faced with something they should be helpless to combat, still summon up the courage to act during that one brief moment when they can make a crucial difference. Probably the most dated feature of this collection is its attitude toward women, who are frequently absent entirely, or serve only in the most stereotypical of roles. Only the touchingly sentimental "The Ugly Little Boy" treats a woman as anything like a real human being. Even so, the power of Asimov's ideas
and the scope of his vision of the future have delighted readers for over half a century. If you haven't read these stories in other collections, you'll certainly want to catch them here.

I read this book God knows how many years ago, and I've never been able to get it out of my head since. I read it again and again until the pages fell out; it's that kind of book. Thoughtful, provocative, and absolutely terrifying; Asimov at his best.

As an IT project manager for a Fortune 500 company supporting online programs and projects, as well as web sites and applications, this book summarizes a day in my life. Not just a must-read, but a godsend for both application developers and UI designers -- two groups who traditionally don't always see eye-to-eye. Can't we all just get along? Yes! This book tells you how, using simple, easy-to-understand language and real-life examples. End users and customers will thank you for reading it.

I highly recommend this book as an invaluable resource for anyone currently in, or looking to enter, the instructional design field. The authors have successfully been able to present information, which can often be dry and complex, in a clear and easy to read format.

I have a read many books in this area and they have been a fantastic cure for insomnia. This on the other hand is a compelling read from start to finish. Many of the concepts presented will not be foreign to people that work in this field or in the area of product development. However the logical order and detailed examples work brilliantly to drive home the principles.

Publishers in this area should use this book as a bench mark for design and layout for its susinct and logical passage. Thank you very much Ellen and Allan for such a useful tool!

First let me tell you this is an interaction design (or user interface design) book, since the title of the book doesn't do this job well.

This is one of the books that have great impact on me. I agree with the review written by Kevin Mullet (printed on the book's back cover) that the ideas presented in this book are a bit "dangerous". It is dangerous because they are not the common practice yet. If people want to follow these ideas, they need to have changes. Changes are always dangerous to many people.

Those "dangerous" ideas include:

- Build fewer features but build them well. (The current practice is to build as many features as possible so that marketers can list those features for promotion. Is a product easy to use? Everyone can claim that since there are no criteria for such a claim.)

- User interface design should drive the system architecture, not the other way around. (Modifying system architecture is always hard. If we want to support a certain interaction afterwards, the architecture will probably can't support cleanly, if at all.)

- Technology should be used for user needs, but not for technology's own sake. (Visual design should also be treated the same.)

Last but not least, this book shows that user interface design is actually science but not art. We don't need a graphic design degree to be an interaction designer.

I first read this when I was about 13, and was very impressed--a galaxy-spanning Empire, thousands of years old? Space-ships that jump across the galaxy through hyperspace? Hand-held blasters as weapons? Hari Seldon, who could chart the future of the galaxy? Wow! It was good stuff. However, I when reread these novels many years later, flaws jumped out. Fatal flaws, actually. The first is that Seldon's "psychohistory" is utter nonsense. It is impossible, and always will be, to chart human behavior--especially the behavior of a quintillion or so people--through mathematical equations. The second is that Asimov is vague about the political and economic structure of the Empire. It appears to be aristocratic/feudal. That's really hard to believe, some 10,000 years in the future. Is it free-market? Is it totalitarian? And Asimov is rather vague about why it collapses...a dying of curiosity, a misallocation of resources...other things, none of them really specific, none of them really believable. Even when Asimov wrote these novels the evidence was overwhelming that what causes societies to collapse is the expansion of the State, i.e. of government. I guess he wasn't familiar with any of the many works on it. The history of the Roman Empire, upon which these novels are based, went from Republic to Empire to Dark Ages. But it collapsed because of the expansion of government and the resulting lack of freedom. Had Asimov written a more realistic trilogy, a Galactic Republic would have turned into a totalitarian Galactic Empire, then collapsed. In Europe's Dark Ages there were small groups of people (the Irish for one) who helped preserve knowledge (which actually, to a degree, is what happens with the Foundationa and the Second Foundation). But psychohistoric mathematical equations could play no part is charting the future history the the coming society. Asimov, to some degree, does stress the horrors of government expansion and the importance of freedom over false government "security." But it is so vague that I completely missed it as a teenager. And it is teenagers, generally speaking, who read science-fiction. Asimov could have done a better job, politically, historically, economically. But, even with all the flaws, it's still an absorbing read.

I believe this is Asimov's best fiction.

A story of the far future of our galaxy where a galactic empire is beginning to disintegrate. A man named Hari Seldon discovers the science of "psychohistory" (scientific 'prophecy' using mathematics and the law of large numbers as it relates to human behavior), and finds a way to minimize the decline. This plan requires the formation of a Foundation near the edge of the galaxy. The plot takes off from there.

Once you start this work, you will have a hard time putting it down. I really believe George Lucas got some of his ideas for STAR WARS from this trilogy.

--George Stancliffe

First of all up until I read the Foundation Trilogy back in 1986 I was not one for reading fiction, never mind Sci Fi. I bought the book, used, from a friend and one quiet weekend started to read it, I could not put it down, I was smitten by the Asimov bug. Read what ever reviews you wish but remember it is fiction,...Science Fiction and at the time of writing it was Isaac Asimov's, one persons, vision/opinion/thoughts of the future of mankind. As of a result of reading the Trilogy edition I now have most of his books and as to date have not been able to find another comparable author, although Arthur C Clarke has come close with his Rama series.

Read it and I am sure the vast majority of you will thoroughly enjoy it.

Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific writers not just in science fiction, but in all of literature. Having written upwards of 500 books (distributed throughout every category of the Dewey Decimal System), compliling the definitive Asimov omnibus, clearly, is a monumental task. This, the first in a three volume series (I have never come across the two subsequent volumes), collects a good portion of Asimov's short fiction (though, indeed, not as many as the title implies) - including some of his earliest work, and some of his best. This collection includes about 50 stories, comprising the previous short story collections Earth Is Room Enough, Nine Tomorrows, and Nightfall and Other Stories in their entirety. Included in it are some of the classic science fiction short stories of all-time: Nightfall, The Last Question (one of my absolute personal favorites, as well as Asimov's own favorite of his writings), and The Dying Night; as well as personal and sentimental favorites such as The Ugly Little Boy, Jokester, Dreaming Is A Private Thing, Profession, and Breeds There A Man...? It also includes such widely anthologized pieces as It's Such A Beautiful Day, The Fun They Had, and The Machine That Won The War. The collection also picks up several lighter pieces - such as examples of Asimov's poetry, which show that, despite his often leaning toward the cerebral in his stories, the good Doctor was also one big goof. Though by no means a complete overview of Asimov's short fiction, this is a very good place to start if you are new to the author - or if you want to get a good portion of his works in one convenient place. One need not go into the individual merits of these stories: Asimov's reputation precedes itself. This is some of the greatest science fiction ever written, essential to any fan of the genre, or of imaginative writing in general. Very highly recommended.

First off, it's Asimov short stories, so how could it be less then wonderful? Admittedly, the title is a bit misleading, Asimov wrote so many short stories that no single volume could hold all of them. There is, as could be expected, some overlap: stories in this collection that are also in others. That said, this is one of the best collections I've encountered, and it included several stories I have not seen in any other edition.

The present volume of stories is just the tip of the iceberg. An exhibition that showcases what a fine story teller Isaac Asimov. The highlight of most stories of Asimov is his ability to visualise the future not just in terms of technological advances, but also its impact on human behaviour. If this is the first book of Asimov you are reading then you are well on your way to becoming a fan.

choorie@ rediffmail.com

Asimov is an acknowledged genius. This book is a great example of the man's genius.

A general problem with history books is seeing how the little bit you are looking at fits in with the big picture. Asimov doesn't over-analyse - he gives his history in bite sized chunks so the thread of the overall historical flow remains undisrupted.

Asimov has the good sense to draw the book to a close while it is still history 50 years before his writing date. The little mention of his birth is just one of the many points that raises a smile.

I would have liked more on Australia, but I guess like many parts of the world the stuff Australia did up to the middle of the 20th Century did not have major international impacts.

Start reading your history here and then specific areas afterwards.

Most history books I've read have been boring and a chore to read. This one I can hardly put down; I keep staying up way too late reading it; I look something up, and then look back to see what happened beforehand or what happened afterward, or I check to see what Japan was up to during WWI, etc. This book could easily have been a dry listing of names and dates, like most textbooks (especially given the enormous scope of the book), but Asimov does a wonderful job of helping the reader to identify the significant events and why they are significant, and to follow trends and threads in history by linking effects to their causes. His editorial commentary is fun too;like when he calls Italy's performance in WWII "comic relief". I learned more from this book than from some of the history classes I've taken.

In a few words: if u like history, buy it, u'll like it (the book). If u don't like history, buy it, u'll like it (history). Asimov knows how to write in such a way that u start reading about something and u can't stop till the end. With his historical books (he wrote many others about specific periods) u start without knowing that much and u find in the middle of a wonderful novel with his characters, complicated stories, mistakes, blitz, wars, family problems, murders and so on... and from time to time u find urself saying "hey, but this story is true, it is HISTORY, the world we have now is this way because all these facts really happened". It is reallya wonderful reading. There are some negative aspects and it is correct to list them. It is completely europocentric. East world is often described in a very few lines. Well, actually it is english-centric. After 1776 USA are the great character of the story. Sometimes it is as if world history is a process doomed to bring to the existence of USA. If are not american you'll surely find that Asimov neglected many events in ur country history. There are probably too many spelling mistakes in foreign languages ( i am italian and believe me there are many italian names mispelled). The book is 750 pages long and probably it deserevs 75,000 to appear complete ! The index of names isn't really complete, i looked only for a name ( Brahms) and i didn't find it but Brahms is mentioned two times (omre than Mozart, yeee !!). Finally, i find this kind of history books necessary when u need to have a wide vision about history. After reading this book u need another book that deals not with facts but with ideas. Here u won't find many "history ideas" but u'll find all the necessary facts to understand those ideas. You can't learn history ONLY with this book, but u need it to start learning history in a nice way. Even with its negative aspects, i tell u buy this book, it is great, it is Asimov at his usual best in divulgation.

A superbly written insider's look at the Russian revolution. Babel can convey the horrors of war with very few words. I enjoyed the best his sarcastic treatement of the bombastic communist rhetoric in such stories as "Salt" and "Treason" (maybe because I was exposed to it myself at one time).

I stumbled across Isaac Babel because of a single line quoted in Paul Johnson's "History of the Jews". And then I was forever hooked.

First, a caveat. Be sure you understand when reading Babel's short stories that you are not reading his autobiography or journal. He did in fact listen to our creative writing teachers; he wrote what he knew. He knew the Russian revolution. He knew the Cossacks. He knew war. He knew living inside and outside the pale. His world jumps off the page because he lived it first.

The stories contain autobiographical material, actively mixed with the yeast of fiction. Use this aspect of his writing to chase rabbits. Follow up this book with his biography or find out more about the Russian revolution. Both of those topics will make more sense after reading his collected stories.

As a writer, I stand in awe of Babel's stingy use of words. Some scenes are so hugely horrible that I would have been tempted to throw in appropriate adverbs and adjectives in an attempt to convince you, my reader, just how hugely horrible it really was. Babel simply tells the story, and you gasp when you are done, horrified when you peak through the keyhole (and I would have blasted a hole in the wall).

When you read Babel, you must be willing to go at the stories with an open mind, not expecting him to flatten the Commies, defend the Jews, or paint the picture the way you want him to. He will not do that, no matter how many times you try to make it so. You will hear no overtones of right or wrong, get no definitive answers about the people on either side of the Russian revolution.

For that, I am most grateful to Isaac Babel. Nothing about our world can be easily distilled into sharp black and white. His stories give us the real world in astounding color.

The frightfully ugly picture on the cover of this edition (what in the world were the publishers thinking?) might keep a lot of people away, but the few brave souls that look inside will find one of the great 20th century craftsmen of prose. I can't think of another writer than chooses his words more carefully, that can pack more into a single sentence. "Pierced by the flashes of the bombardment, night arches over the dying man." Single words can take your breath away - the choice of "arches" is the one that does it for me - but you'll probably have others. The brutality of the world he describes may seem foreign, but it never becomes oppressive, mainly because the writing is so good. The stories themselves are rather difficult to love - there is very little hope to latch on to, there are very few characters one can feel close to; there are very few real characters at all, except the narrator. Even under these horrific circumstances, though, Babel creates emotions than one can identify with - pride, love, lust, anger. He has a thorough understanding of human character. It is apparent that the circumstances of war don't create new emotions, they just amplify things we feel anyway.

This book is a necessary read for anyone that wants to learn how to write poetically without being florid, compress pages of description into a few words. This compression is one of the reasons that the stories stay in mind long after they've been read. Buy the book - or get the other edition in a used book store, so you don't have to look at that awful picture.

Many, many years ago I happened to hear an audio tape of Harlan Ellison reading the first part of his "I, Robot" script for a Science-Fiction convention, so I was very happy to see that what may well be the most infamous unproduced script in Hollywood history is available in print. The artwork in this illustrated screenplay is by Mark Zug, and consists of both color paintings and black & white character sketches that help to flesh out your mental images.

Ellison takes several of Isaac Asimov's classic Robot short stories and weaves them into the life story of Susan Calvin, told in flashbacks to a reporter at the funeral for Stephen Byerley, First President of the Galactic Federation. Consequently, Ellison avoids the traditional pitfall of omnibus movies, such as "Tales from the Crypt," "The Twilight Zone" or "Creepshow," where whatever is used to link the segments together is of no importance to the overall film.

Ellison's introductory essay is certainly not as vitriolic as his story about what happened to his Star Trek script "The City on the Edge of Forever," but it does recount the bizzaro world of movie making. Both the essay and the script are testaments to Ellison's affection for Asimov. A special treat is Ellison's revelation as to the casting he had in mind when he wrote the script: Joanne Woodward as Susan Calvin, George C. Scott as Reverend Soldah, Martin Sheen as Robert Bratenahl, and Keenan Wynn and Ernest Borgnine as Donovan and Powell.

You may come to this book as a fan of Ellison or of Asimov or of both. Regardless of your point of origin I think it is important that you have read the original Asimov Robot stories before you read the script. The stories are Asimov's but the adaptation is Ellison's, and you have to know the original tales to appreciate the inspired organization of this script.

Despite the many complaints that I, Robot was never filmed, I think this screenplay attempt shows why it wasn't. It doesn't have the punch needed for a high budget flick to bring in the crowds, sorry. The idea of robots is trite to audiences, and the 'surprise' that the leader of their govt. is a robot in disguise... which Star Trek episode WAS that? :) The main character, Ms. Calvin, is as sexless as a marble statue, and audiences could get more sex in 5 minutes of Dallas or Days of Our Lives. In short, the screenplay's Asimov roots really hurts it, Asimov can't handle sex and real human emotions and himself thinks like a robot, and this screenplay can't get around it. I could see Martin Sheen as the reporter, but I already saw that one :) Who would play Dr. Susan? Meryl Streep? :) Sorry, this movie would bomb like Blade Runner. If it were rewritten yet again, by a screenwriter who knows how to please crowds, it might still fly, but then, Asimov purists might wrinkle up their noses. So there you go :)

Although I'm not much of a fan of Science Fiction this book really appealed to me. It has everything, emotional struggle, action, romance, and an ending that ranks among some of the best of all time. It is quite possibly my favourite book even though it's a screenplay. If you can't find it here get it anywhere. It deserves, and needs to be read by as many people as possible.

Asimov in his introduction to the short story, put it as a "tear-jerker" and his second favoutite story. It is my all-time favourite though - a wonderful read. The novel is good - there is some expansion on the Neanderthal times from where the boy is brought as a specimen to today's world. But what is truly relevant here is the way the maternal feelings grow in Nurse ???(whats her name) and how mutual love develops between the two. The finale is brilliant. I would recomment all to read this one. There is nothing special in the "Silververg" part as I see it. The short story of Asimov is what carries the thing through - and so, you may as well read the short story. Its his finest tale.

"A remarkably moving and chilling tale of what happens when past and present collide..." A charming and nostalgic trip into the past when SciFi really had a plot...

Wow, Asimov and Silverberg really know how to tell a story. This is the best sf novel I've read in a long time.